


The Saving of a Dying Flower

by PeggyandthePenguins



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: F/M, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2020-05-20 04:35:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19369825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeggyandthePenguins/pseuds/PeggyandthePenguins
Summary: Maybe if she wasn't hurt in that accident so long ago with her brother, then she wouldn't have gone to that school. Maybe if she hadn't had gone to that school, then she wouldn't have met him. Maybe if she hadn't met him, then she wouldn't be hurting this much. But maybe, if she hadn't met him, he wouldn't have been saved. At least she likes flowers, even if they are dying.





	1. Showered in Ivy

**Author's Note:**

> This will take place in High School. I mean, half the guys look like college students, so it’s not that big of a deal. So everyone who’s 14 will be 17, 13 will be 16, and 12 will be 15, roughly. And this starts right at Ryoma’s first match with his team.  
> Bold- English

“Are you going to go now, sweetie?”

“Yes, **Mom**.”

“Wish him luck for me, will you?”

A laugh. “Of course, **Mom**.”

“Have fun!”

“I will!” The girl threw her purse onto her shoulder as she headed out the door, not bothering to lock it since her mother would be home. Her hands rummaged through her purse one last time to make sure that she had enough money for her fast drinking brother. Maybe he should drink some water instead. “I can’t believe that little shit left without me.”

* * *

“Achoo!” A young boy sneezed loudly, startling his nearby teammates.

“Shit, Echizen!” An elder boy recoiled from the noise, dramatically over reacting to startling sneeze. “You sick or something?”

“Momo! Quit teasing the baby!” A red head laughed at Echizen’s glare towards his elder. He turned to smile at Echizen, only to find the said boy glaring at him now. “Eh!? Ochibi!?”

A light brown haired tensai merely smiled at his team members. “I don’t think calling Echizen baby isn’t going to make him stop glaring, Eiji.”

The black-haired freshman kept glaring at his elders; he already started getting horrible flashbacks back in America. Echizen groaned when his teammates kept bickering to themselves over what his nickname was to be. He didn’t think Fuji actually cared what his nickname was; that tensai just wanted to watch Echizen sit and writhe in pain over his childish nickname that Kikumaru would bestow upon him.

The freshman backed off from his now arguing team. Tezuka and Oishi should be with Coach Ryuzaki who was currently turning in the line up for today’s event. Kaido was off readying himself for his upcoming matches while Kawamura and Inui were discussing some of Kawamura’s playing tactics. Ryoma had no idea where the Freshman Trio and he didn’t want to know where they were. Sometimes he could barely handle them.

Ryoma stopped by the park vending machine, silently pondering over the idea of partaking in a nice, cold Ponta. He licked his lips. This was his only vice, his only addiction other than tennis. The freshman watched a bead of condensation roll down the glass pane of the vending machine. His hand reached into his large pocket, fumbling around in empty fabric only for him to realize that he left his wallet resting on his bed. His shoulders dropped in disappointment.

**“Need some money, cutie?”**

Ryoma turned himself away from the delectable drinks and faced the voice. A black-haired girl stood before him, wearing jean shorts and a loose tank top. Black liner framed her gleeful eyes and a light pink was covering her smug lips. In her hands was her wallet, a cute Japanese cat change purse. His mood immediately worsened. “What are you doing here?”

Her mouth shaped themselves into a mocking shocked expression. “I’m here to watch you! Ugh, you’re so rude! And how dare you leave me behind!”

“You’re the one who didn’t bother to wake up on time.”

“You were supposed to wake me!” The girl spun on her heel, walking off to find a staff member or an assistant who was running the event. She knows that Ryoma wouldn’t tell her where the courts he would be playing on were located. The boy made a grunt behind her and she gave an exasperated sigh. The girl turned her head. Ryoma was pointing at the vending machine, a small pout on his lips. She pointed a well-manicured finger at him. “You have to tell me where you’re playing.”

**“Fine, Akina-ne.”**

She sent him a smug smile, handing over a few yen to the younger teen. “You know, I’m a bit surprised you told Mom and Dad not to come. I thought that you would want them to see you play.”

“They’ll see me play at the National Finals.”

Akina let a laugh escape her, absolutely loving her brother’s overwhelming confidence. After Ryoma had gathered his change and his drink, together they headed back to where his team was probably worrying about him. Her brother walked in silence, still upset he gave in to his elder sister, while she chatted on with her day at the airport.

**“Oh my god, it was so cold. I was absolutely freezing in there,”** Akina waved her hand in an exaggerated manner. **“Oh! I forgot to congratulate you on your position as a regular!”**

“Thanks,” Ryoma mumbled out, barely distinguishable, as he sipped on his Ponta. He just wanted his sister to shut her trap and not embarrass him in front of his team members. And speak of the devil. The entire pack was waiting for him by the benches, even the Freshman Trio. Shit. He thought he could introduce her slowly. Before he could open his mouth to warn her, the hyperactive red head opened his mouth.

“Ochibi!” Kikumaru waved his hands in the air, bringing all Seigaku attention towards himself and the Echizen pair. He squinted his eyes at the female teen walking with their baby regular. Kikumaru waved his friends over. Ryoma started to die inside. “Eh? Hey guys, who’s that?”

“Holy shit!” Momoshiro eye’s widened when he caught sight of the girl beside him. “He disappeared to pick up a girl? That little shit.”

Ryoma groaned internally. Now his captain and his coach were watching him return with his sister.

“Echizen, who’s that?” Fuji finally confronted the pair.

“Akina—”

The younger Echizen was shut up by his sister wrapping her arms around his smaller frame and gave him a squeeze. “He’s my brother. I’m sure he’s talked about me at some point. I want to thank you guys for taking care of him for me!”

“Sister?!” Momoshiro shouted out, alerting every Seigaku Tennis Club member in the approximate radius.

Fuji let out a small laugh, while the rest of his team freaked, aside from Tezuka and Ryuzaki. “I’m afraid he’s never told us anything about you.”

Akina paused, her eyes narrowing as she slowly turned to her brother. Ryoma pulled down his hat; his eyes never met hers. **“You ass.”**

**“There was never a good time.”**

She rolled her eyes. **“You just don’t like talking about me. Cause I’m better.”**

**“Are not.”**

**“Yes, I am.”** Akina turned back to his team. “So you guys are getting ready for a game?”

“Yes, Akina-chan.” Kikumaru bumped himself into the conversation, excited for another Echizen.

Oishi’s eyes widened at Kikumaru’s open name calling. The Seigaku mother didn’t know how Echizen’s sister would react to the casualness of Kikumaru. “Eiji, you can’t be so casual.”

He was instead met with her laugh. She waved her hand. “It’s fine. I prefer my first name anyways. I just want to know what position he’s playing, then I’ll get out of your guys’ way.”

“Yes, please leave,” Ryoma mumbled. His side was met with an elbow of his sister’s.

Kikumaru beamed. “No, it’s fine. You can stay here!”

Ryoma glared at his senpai. He was being way too friendly. And he didn’t want his sister around him when he was playing. Hell, he didn’t even want her to be here today. The freshman was playing doubles today and who knows how long Akina would tease him if he lost this match.

“Ah,” Oishi began. He gestured to Momoshiro who waved. “He’s playing doubles with Momoshiro.”

Akina’s jaw dropped before pulling into a smile. She threw her head back and laughed while her brother wished to disappear from the world. The Seigaku team, freshmen and regulars alike, all began to feel an uneasiness rise in their stomachs when they heard her laugh. She stopped her laughing and gave them a smile.

“Seriously, what’s he playing?”

“…Doubles,” Oishi’s face sunk. “Second Doubles.”

Akina’s laughing face immediately fell off when she took notice of the regulars’ uneasy expressions. “Oh. You guys weren’t joking.”


	2. Growing Into One

Akina leaned over the green wall separating the Seigaku regulars and herself. They all gave her curious looks, all wondering to themselves on why she had picked this time to show herself. While the male Echizen had started his schooling when everyone else did, the sister was a month late. Oishi was the only one who was brave enough to ask this question.

“Ah,” Echizen’s sister nodded. “Ryoma wanted to start his freshman year earlier, with all the other Japanese freshmen. So he technically didn’t finish his previous school year in America. But we were able to pull him out early. I, however, wanted to finish my junior year in America.”

“So then you decided to start your senior year in Japan roughly a month late?” Inui pushed up his glasses.

She nodded. “Yes. I actually just finished my junior year yesterday!”

"So you’ll be at school Monday?!” Kikumaru jumped up from his spot on the bench. His red hair bounced. “This is great! We can show you around the school this weekend!”

Fuji gave him an odd look. “You’ll only be able to do tomorrow. You’re going to be at this event all day.”

“No, I thought Sundays were closed,” Ryoma threw over his shoulder. Although why did he care? She wasn’t even going to Seishun Academy. Thank god for that. He didn’t want his sister harassing him there. Kikumaru, however, was not very happy on that thought. His usually jovial face sunk into a visible whimper. Sadness leaked from his aura. Fuji simply shrugged at him.

“Uh….” She gave them all a sheepish smile. Kikumaru tilted his head; his wide eyes blinked back at her. “I actually won’t be attending Seishun Academy.”

Fuji opened his eyes at that. Perhaps it was a sibling rivalry getting in the way of the two enrolling at the same school? He knew what that was like first hand. “Why not?”

“No!” Eiji gave her a look of despair.

“Wait,” Momo’s eyebrows rose. “Then where are you going?”

The corners of Ryoma’s mouth pulled into a small grimace. Avoiding the curious eyes of his teammates, he merely put his drink to his lips, pretending to sip his grape Ponta. Sly eyes caught Ryoma’s small lip movements, the blue orbs flitted over to his captain who was also watching Ryoma’s darkening expression. Fuji had never seen something like this on the freshman’s face. His blue eyes were soon brought to the elder Echizen’s face as her soft laughter rang in their ears.

“Ryoma didn’t want me to keep harassing him all day!” She lightly poked him on his cheek, giving him a small— dare Fuji say sad? — smile.

Eiji’s eyes watered. The red head tackled the younger Echizen and clung to him tightly. Ryoma’s arms flailed about him as he was attacked. “Ochibi! Let your sister harass you so that she can come to Seigaku!”

“Kikumaru-senpai!”

“Gyokurin versus Seigaku!” An announcer shouted out, calling for the teams to gather out onto the courts.

“Ah! That’s us!” Seigaku’s coach waved over her team to where she and Inui were sitting. Something about that woman seemed really familiar to Akina. She tucks it into the back of her mind and decides to ask her father later.

Only seven of the nine Seigaku regulars filed out onto the tennis court, shaking hands with the other team. Akina tilted her head, remembering that she only knew two names of Ryoma’s new team. The Momo guy who was playing doubles with Ryoma and the red head Eiji. She didn’t know the egg head, the guy who somehow didn’t trip with his eyes closed all the time, the sheepish one, nor the one with the bandana. And she forgot about the captain and the one with glasses.

“Hm….”

“Is there anything wrong, Echizen-chan?” The guy with glasses suddenly appeared beside her, writing something in his journal.

“Ah!” Akina placed a hand over her heart. The Freshmen Trio shot her a concerned look. “Holy shit.” 

“Echizen-chan? Are you alright?”

She waved her hand in front of her. “I’m fine. You just scared me.”

“Ah,” he nodded. “My apologies. I was asking if anything was wrong?”

He doesn’t look very sorry, she thought to herself. “I’m afraid I don’t know your name, nor your captain’s.”

He nodded, his glasses preventing her from seeing anything emotional in his covered eyes. “I’m Inui.” – he gestured to the brown-haired captain— “He’s Tezuka.” – he gestured back to the courts— “The one with his eyes closed is Fuji. The light brown-haired one is Kawamura. The one with the bandana is Kaido. Your brother’s double partner is Momoshiro. And the vice-captain is Oishi.”

“Seigaku’s Momoshiro and Echizen pair versus Gyokurin’s Izumi and Fukawa pair!” The announcer interrupted the two’s conversation. The second doubles players stayed on the court as the other team members walked off and towards their respective sides.

“Welp, the baby’s up,” Eiji rested his arms behind his head.

Fuji gave him a smile. “We’ll see how he does today.”

"Are they arguing?” Kaido shook his head at the pair.

The girl tilted her head, not quite thinking that was the case. Ryoma had a smirk on his face. “I think they’re goading.”

Ryoma said something again that caught Eiji’s attention. He turned to his doubles partner with a small look of confusion on his face. “Oishi, have you heard of the Ah-Un strategy?”

“No.” The vice-captain’s brows furrowed. “Have you, Inui-kun?”

“No.”

“What about you, Akina-chan?” An elderly lady’s voice interjected into the conversation, a small smirk rested on her face. “You were a doubles player in America. Did you come across any similar named strategies? Or did you teach Ryoma-kun the strategy?”

“Coach Ryuzaki!” Oishi’s eyes widened.

“Ryuzaki-san?” Akina narrowed her eyes at the elderly lady. That name sounded very familiar to her. “No. I have no idea what he’s talking about.”

The Seigaku coach’s face deflated. “I was hoping you would be able to teach that boy something.”

Akina shot her a sheepish smile. “I hope for the same thing.”

“One set match, Gyokurin to serve!” The referee shouted out, raising his hand towards the Gyokurin side. Each of the four players lined themselves accordingly while the orange-haired boy— Akina thinks his name was Izumi— reached into his pocket for a tennis ball. He must be serving. Akina leaned on the fence separating herself and the Seigaku regulars, almost knocking over her brother’s tennis bag. Her quick hands shot out and steadied the bag. 

“That was a quick one, Echizen-chan,” Fuji whispered to her. 

She shot him a smile and a quick wink. “Echizen reflexes.”

Bounce, bounce, plonk!

The Izumi boy served to her brother, him returning the server with ease to the orange-hair. With a swing of his arm, the Gyokurin boy sent it back to Seigaku’s middle. Akina didn’t miss the smirks on Gyokurins’ faces. Does Ryoma and Momoshiro have trouble with the middle?

“Ah!” Momoshiro called out, his arm open and ready to hit.

“Un!” Her little brother responded to his call, stepping back to let his team mate handle the ball. Momoshiro whipped his arm, hitting the ball with a loud plonk. The ball landed down Gyokurin’s middle, sliding past both Izumi and Fukawa.

“Love- 15!”

The freshmen trio next to her begun to cheer. “Yes! Echizen did it!”

Hmm…. Maybe he did pick up on something we were trying to teach him, Akina kept her thoughts to herself. 

Another shot down Seigaku’s middle had them stealing another point from Gyokurin. A few shots later, Gyokurin lobbed high over Momoshiro’s head. He reached up, his long body stretching towards the sun, but he couldn’t reach. Her brother bolted, his lean legs launching himself like a rocket out of orbit. Akina noticed how the Seigaku pair was lined up. With another whack, Ryoma successfully sent the neon yellow ball over to the other side. Gyokurin’s net player poached the ball from his teammate and smashed the poor ball onto the opposite side of the court giving the two Seigaku players little time to race towards the tennis ball. They both reached it… but Ryoma and Momoshiro collided into each other, effectively losing the point.

“15-30!”

“They only have co-operation in the middle,” the captain remarked. Eiji snickered into his hand. Akina merely shook her head.

Izumi threw another ball into the air and gave a weak serve to Ryoma. Her brother readied himself while taking note of how both the Gyokurin players moved to the net. They smashed down the ball into the side after Ryoma had returned it. The referee called out the score, giving Ryoma and Momoshiro time to reset themselves into their doubles position. His brown eyes were full of thoughts.

“Perhaps we shouldn’t have put a hastily arranged pair onto the court,” Oishi tapped his chin.

“Well,” Akina pulled back. “I guess Ryoma will just have to deal with it for now.”

“I’m sure Echizen has something prepared,” a funkily dressed freshman nodded to himself.

Fuji turned to her with a question on his lips only for him to knock over the unprotected bag of her idiot brother. Her hands weren’t quick enough; she leaned far over the fence, her arms reaching comically out as she grabbed at nothing. The bag slowly fell to the floor with a thud. Fuji whispered apologies to her and her brother— of which he would never hear— and squatted down to scoop up the Echizen’s bag. Fuji leaned the tennis bag against the fence but stepped on something.

“Ah,” Fuji looked down. “Something fell out.”

The freshmen trio poked their heads over the fence, even his sister craned her neck to see what the book was.

Doubles for Beginners.

Akina couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Well shit.”

“Akina…?” Eiji tilted his head to look up at her. “Has Ochibi never played doubles before?”

“Mostly with me, but…. Truthfully, I wouldn’t call it doubles. Mostly just me backing him up.” God knows Ryoga couldn’t handle playing with him. A small pang entered her heart when thinking of her older brother. Ryoma still wasn’t talking to him. “But he does have… some experience.”

“Ah,” Eiji continued. The Seigaku remembers watched Ryoma and Momoshiro glare at the other team. “That would explain it.”

“2-1, Gyokurin!”

“I mean,” Akina picked at her nails. “I think it’ll be fine. He’s really good at adapt—” She looked up to find Ryoma walking towards the net. He was supposed to be at the base line. “What’s he doing?”

Fuji shrugged. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”

She stared at Ryoma in complete awe. The men of her family were typically better at singles— in Ryoma’s case, only good at singles— than they were in doubles. Their hot heads couldn’t work with other people very well. Even when playing with Ryoga, Akina had to take a step back sometimes. However, this completely takes the cake. That dumbass just split the court. That’s not doubles.

“He did not just do what I think he did.”

“He did, Echizen-chan.”

She face palmed. It was partially her fault. Ryoga and Akina never really got into the habit of playing with Ryoma in doubles. Ryoga was only a year older than her so it was really just her and him who played doubles together. By the time Ryoma could successfully return a decent serve, Akina and Ryoga had already begun entering mixed-doubles competitions. They kind of just left the poor baby behind. It wasn’t really their fault. Ryoma should have been born earlier!

Akina groaned to herself. “Oh, Ryoma.”

“Don’t worry, Echizen-chan,” Oishi tried cheering her up. He gestured to the courts. “Look, they’re using their original playing styles. And it looks like they’re competing better now.”

Brown eyes filled with glee as they spotted their brother playing a smile on his face. Even as the Gyokurin pair threw everything they could at the Seigaku boys, Ryoma and Momoshiro kept pushing back their opponents. Quickly, their score rose. It wasn’t long until Ryoma and Momoshiro had taken their last point with relative ease.  
“Seigaku! 6-2!”

“I can’t believe he won that,” Akina whispered to herself as she watched her idiot of a brother sauntered over to her. A thin smirk was resting on his face as he stared back at her dumbfounded expression.

**“Hey Akina,”** Ryoma started. **“It turns out that doubles is pretty easy—”**

His coach reached over and grabbed Ryoma by the cheeks. She pulled and kept admonishing the two double boys for their shitty play. Akina couldn’t help but laugh at her brother. He was the one who did this to himself after all. His hands reached for his tennis bag. Ryoma slipped his now unneeded racket in the bag. He paused. Something caught his eye.

“Hey.” Heads turned to the youngest member of the team. “Why is there a footprint on my book?”

Fuji opened his eyes. “Ah, Echizen. I’m—”

**“Well, maybe that wouldn’t have happened if you’d just zip up your bag.”** His sister rolled her eyes at him. She turned her head to the first doubles match.

**“Akina.”**

**“Ryoma.”** She stuck her tongue out.

**“You’re an a—”**

Ring. Vzzt. Ring. Vzzt. Ring. Vzzt.

Feminine hands flew to her purse. She quickly found her phone and hit the green button. “Hello.”

“Ah,” her father’s voice rung into her ear. “You with Ryoma?”

**“Yeah. Whatcha want?”**

She could her hear father fling something like paper down onto a hard surface. He groaned. “Ah…. Well, your school wants you to come in this evening to tour Rikkaidai.”

**“Hmph.”** Akina looked at her nails. She just wanted to stay with Ryoma. They have been separated for an entire month! Who knows what trouble the baby Echizen could get into if she wasn’t around? And he was playing tennis! She wants to see that! **“I don’t wanna.”**

“Well too bad. You don’t get to decide that. Get your ass over here and we’ll head down to Rikkaidai.”

Sigh. She rolled her eyes. That school was going to be the death of her. So much shit they wanted her to do. **“Fine. I’ll tell Ryoma. I’m on my way.”**

Her brother tilted his head towards her. “Akina?”

Her phone landed back in her purse after she had hung up on her father. She gave him a smile. Black hair fell over Ryoma’s shoulder as she leaned over to whisper in his ear. “I’ve got to go. Good luck, don’t get hurt.”

“Tch.”

“Text me before your last match,” Akina stood up, giving her brother a pat on the head. “I might be able to make it to that one.”

“Alright.”

Akina gave him another one of her smiles. Waving goodbyes to the rest of the regulars and even the freshmen trio, the elder Echizen exited the park. Her heart sunk as she left behind her still angry brother. She didn’t really want to be separated from her brother, but Rikkaidai was closer to the hospital….


End file.
